Houston, we’ve had a problem

April 14, 1970 – Apollo 13 in London.

As a reporter with WVUE-TV I was on a tour with New Orleans businessmen through Europe.

First stop London where the news hit early hours (GMT) that Apollo 13 was troubling Houston.

Because I had a 16mm Bell and Howell camera and a tape recorder I shot newspaper headlines and some crowds crossing a bridge, and then I did a few interviews on tape to make a pre-recorded package of the London reaction to the news. I then put the unprocessed film, tape recordings and script in an onion skin bag and had a courier take it to the airport. I had done foreign reporting for seven years since I started in television news. Never mind it was two days late.

♦

Vienna window script

In my underwear in the 5 star Grand Hotel Vienna hotel room, reading a script for broadcast back in New Orleans. I had the window open to get the background noise for authenticity on the tape recorder when a gust of wind took my script away. I called the front desk in a panic and explained. Shortly thereafter a uniformed bellhop knocked on the door and presented me with my script on silver tray.